Joan

Chapter XLIX

"Why are we going anywhere in this mess?" I grumble, my head resting in my hand as I blankly stare out the passenger window.

"Sometimes it's nice to drive around, whatever the weather," My mom replies too chirpy for such a dreary morning. "I thought you liked adventures."

I shrug indifferently. "I mean, I do, but not today. I'd rather stay inside."

"And do what?"

I give her the side-eye, one she doesn't notice since she's keeping her eyes on the road. "Stuff my face with ice cream and watch Gravity Falls reruns, I dunno, anything besides this."

It's been raining on and off in a steady, light stream all morning, and although it's only drizzling now, it's an overcast day in general- no sign of the sun anywhere. Why my mom packed me up into the car on this "road trip" is beyond me, especially after I told her I didn't want to be bothered. Then again, I actually do know what this is about. This is going to somehow end up as a mommy-daughter bonding time in an effort to cheer me up through some shopping and a cliché inspirational speech, I just know it, which is why I'm dreading it so much.

"You still feeling down?" She asks after several minutes of silence pass.

"Yup," I intentional, but unenthusiastically pop the 'p'.

"Okay."

She knows I don't want to talk about it, everyone has been made well aware of that fact since it happened. It's nearly been a week since the incident, but it still keeps me in a dark mood. It was one little nothing sprain that snowballed into this major thing and now I'm out of a team and with no prospects of joining a new one this late into the season.

Just when I'm able to rejoin track after having to sit out last season, I go and sprain my ankle. But I healed pretty quickly (my doctor's words, not mine), yet my coach, who I thought was supposed to have my back and be over-the-moon that her best and fastest runner could run again so soon, benches me the entire season saying I can come to games and practices and whatnot for moral support or whatever BS she's on. No matter how much I pleaded with her, she didn't sway. But the tipping point for me comes when I find out she puts her own kid, who still runs like a bow-legged toddler with a saggy diaper, in my place- and no one has a problem with this! Well, my anger management classes clearly haven't worked because once I found out, I cussed out my teammates then told my coach some pretty regrettable words looking back, but in the heat-of-the-moment were justified, and quit the team. Dramatic, yes, but look at who we're dealing with here.

So, yeah, now I sorta kinda have egg on my face and am going through another year of no track- not good if I'm trying to get into the Olympics. What I'm feeling right now is a mixture of regret, frustration, annoyance, disappointment, and a few other, smaller effects all muddling into one goopy, depressed mess.

I get to resting my eyes the remainder of the trip since the overcast is kinda giving me a headache. It's only when I feel the car stop that I open my eyes. Looking around, I can see we're as far from the shopping center as possible. Instead, we're at the state park, which is a ghost town but I'm not surprised.